I’m playing yarn chicken. Again. It makes me feel alive, the rush when you don’t know if you’ll make it and you end up knitting with the tail of your cast-on for the last row. I knit faster when I play this game, I think it’s because I’m desperate to see if I’ll win. I have won in the past, the sea-silk shawl that had a quarter’s sized yarn ball at the end. I keep it as a trophy. I’ve lost too. “Use a different yarn, no one will know.” Those projects are hidden. They will not see daylight.

This time I’m competing against Bijou Basin Ranch – Bliss 50/50 Yak & Cormo. It’d have been fine if I had used brown or cream. Instead I used Navy. It’s out of existence now (not that that stopped me from writing them to find out if they have any squirreled away). And yes, the yarn is from my first trip to Rhinebeck, 8 years ago.

It’s a lovely yarn, it’s so springy and the color is a beautiful navy, which stains my fingers as they sweat (note to self: hand wash by itself). I have 6 skeins = 900 yards. I’m knitting a vintage pattern “1950s Lady’s Cardigan sweater, DK, Sirdar no. 1628” and I’m not even sure how much yarn it calls for. It’s in grams and the yarn doesn’t exist anymore so I can’t even convert to yards. Thankfully 2 people have knit it on Ravelry and they used a little over 1,000 yards and did the long sleeve version. I plan on doing the short-sleeve version, or a short row cap sleeve if I run out. My other idea to save yarn is to seam it with a different yarn. In the end, I’ll end up taking out so many elements it’ll be a cropped tank top…

Update #1

I’m more than 6” through the back and I didn’t even finish the first skein yet, I hope that’s promising, I want to make it a bit longer and the armholes bigger. Fingers crossed!